Year of demon
by tears of emerald
Summary: they all think Akito has taken their curses from them. But they don't know one detail: Akito himself is a curse. One that is about to manifest itself. and the only hope is a human sohma named Hina.


okay. I don't have much time to give to this, but I will update when I can. Review, or it just might rot. The girl in this is a character I invented. She isn't in fruits basket. Which, by the way, I don't own.

* * *

Not many people see her. But I do.

She comes out when I'm hurt. Her face is pale white, and her lips are the color of blood. Her eyes are like marbles, big and soft, a nice shade of red. Her hair is an unnatural red, hanging around her face. Whenever she sees me, she smiles. But every time she sees Akito, she frowns.

It was the same with many other people. I have been told I have a personality disorder, but she only frowns when they tell me this. Frowns, and rolls her eyes. That makes me feel better.

Kaito knows the truth. He can see her too. "Hello, Celienne," he always says. She just smiles. She likes Kaito.

Akito tells lies. He says that there is no such girl. But I know. if I'm hurt, all I have to do is close my eyes.  
She's always there. When she sees me, the darkness fades away, and I feel sleepy. I usually wake up a little while later. She doesn't talk much. Usually only to Kaito. She tells him that Akito is a bad person, and to not listen to him. She doesn't like Akito. I don't like him either.

He tells me that Celienne doesn't exist. "But why do I see her?" I always asks. Akito slaps me for saying that.

"Do you want people to come take you away!? he demands. "Do you want them to think you're crazy!?" I always say no. But I see her. She's always just behind my eyelids. Why is that crazy?

Kaito understands. He's nice.

Once when I went to visit Tori-san, she came out. I fell asleep. When I woke up, Tori-san looked surprised. "What was that?" he asks. I smiled. "Celienne," I told him happily. "Did you get to see her? almost no one does. She's so pretty, isn't she?" Hatori only looked mystified. I heard him talking to Akito later.

"Celienne isn't just an imaginary character, as we suspected," tori-san said. "She's real. I think it might be a split personality. And that's a problem. We need to do something. Trouble is, I don't know what. It's not something we can just medicate and watch it whither away. Life doesn't work like that. I don't know what to do. I think we may have to consult a psychiatrist.

I got scared at those words. I turned and ran. They heard me running. "Hina!" he cried. "Come back!" But I just kept running. I closed my eyes. She was still there, looking at me sadly. "We'll be alright," she whispered, with a voice like silk.

I believed her.

After that, I fell asleep. Kaito found me. "Hey," he said. "Hina?" I nodded. "good," kaito continued. "Hatori and akito are looking for you."

I closed my eyes. "I don't want to go back," I whispered sadly. "They think I'm crazy. They want to take celienne away! I'm scared!"

"It's okay, Hina-chan," said Kaito. "Don't worry. I won't let them take you anywhere." I smiled, and he smiled back. "Then I'll go back," I told him. We got up and headed home.

"It's okay!" called Kaito. "She's here." Maako came running. He's Kaito's friend and cousin. "Where were you?" he panted. "Sleeping by the Pond," I told Maako. He shook his head at me.

"Well, anyways," Maako said. "It's dinnertime." I rolled my eyes. Maako loved food more than anything else. It was only natural his main concern was food at the time. but don't get me wrong. Maako is nice. And lots of girls have crushes on him. He just likes food more than love notes made by immature girls.

I headed inside. The minute the door opened, Hatori came into the foyer. "Hina-chan," he said, smiling like he was trying to pretend nothing had happened. I smiled a weak smile as well.

"Hina," said Hatori, the smile slipping off of his face. I panicked, thinking I knew what was coming. "I did not mean for you to hear me and Akito talking. I'm sorry. But I think what you need is to take a trip." That was it. I closed my eyes. She was there. I wanted to cry.

"Please don't make her go away, Tori-sama," said Kaito, patting my back.

"I think it would be best if she stayed at Shigure-san's house for a while," said Hatori calmly. At first I thought that wasn't bad. But then I remembered.

Every 14th year. It would be fulfilled, and the dark prophecy would come to pass. It had 2nd fourteenth year for the past 400 years. I couldn't stay there! "A-are you sure?" I asked. Hatori's face softened. "Yes," he told me. "But don't worry. Shigure-san is eager to have you."

I nodded weakly. But I could barely eat that night. And as I lay in bed that night, I closed my eyes and willed Celienne to appear. she did.

"Celienne," I whispered. "Help me. What do I do? Do I go to the dog as I am told, or do I rebel?"

"Help the dog. End the cycle," she whispered back, her red eyes soft with misty tears.

I nodded. That's what I would do.

I would stop the demon.

* * *

The next day all my belongings were in a suitcase. My adoptive mother had sent me off with some toast and jam to wait by the gate. I was munching happily. It was a beautiful day, with puffy white clouds filling the sky but not blocking out the glorious sun.

suddenly footsteps woke me from my daze. I looked up. There was a brown haired girl, Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure-san, headed towards me. I stretched my arm above my head and waved. "Hi!" I called, standing and running up the cobblestone path to greet my new 'family.'

"Hello, Hina-san," said Shigure pleasantly. He smiled. Yuki smiled as well. Kyo only mumbled a weak 'hello.'

"Hello! Pleased to meet you! I am honda Tohru!" said the brown haired girl. I smiled and nodded at her.

"Is Hatori around?" asked Shigure. It was hard to believe that a dark curse of ages hung around him. He looked happy and carefree on that day.  
No worry lines creased his face. But of course, maybe he didn't know. I wouldn't tell him unless I had to. Which I didn't think I would.

"Yes, Shigure-sama! He's in the house!" I exclaimed. I could feel Celienne for a moment, near my side. I knew what she was doing. She was examining the dog.

Shigure excused himself to talk to Hatori, and then made Yuki go too for his examination. Kyo muttered something about hiding from someone, and dragged Tohru with him. When I was alone, I took my seat on the same rock and began to focus again. Soon I could see Celienne. She was standing in a pool of light water. She turned and smiled at me. "The curse is now, and we must end the cycle. Four hundred years is enough," she told me.

I nodded. four hundred years was more than enough.

Time to do the impossible.

But first I had to know what Hatori was saying about me. I closed my eyes and focused. Soon I could hear voices.

"So, why do you really want us to take Hina?" asked Shigure.

"well," said Tori-san with a sigh. "I think she might have a split personality disorder. The other day, when she was due for her flu vaccine, I was sticking the needle in her vein when suddenly she went very still. Which is odd, because she can be quite fidgety. Suddenly she looked up at me, and I saw that her eyes had changed colors. They're normally green, but then they were red. She just looked at me for a second, then she stared at the needle. finally all the liquid had drained. I was hesitant to remove it, what with her strange behaviour. But then she turned and said, 'it's empty. Aren't you going to take it out?' So I did, with her watching me. When I set the needle down, she slumped forwards. Then she looked up again. Her eyes were normal again."

"Hina says that when she closes her eyes, she can see another girl standing there. She calls this girl Celienne. Hina says that this girl has oddly red hair, red eyes, and a pale face. We thought it was just her imagination. But the child truly believed that sometimes Celienne appears."

Then Akito spoke up. His voice sent shivers down my spine. "I blame Kaito," he said. "He's always encouraging her. Hina's belief in Celienne has manifested itself. And all because Kaito believed her when she said that there was a girl behind her eyelids."

"Hmm," said Shigure. "So how is this supposed to help?"

"Well," said Hatori. "A change of scenery might do Hina-chan good. Maybe if she stays somewhere else for a while, she'll get better."

"Alright," said Shigure. "She'll stay with us, then."

I smiled. To help the dog, I must stay near him.


End file.
